One Second Chance
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day three hundred and sixty-four:  POV SWAP ON #56  That little girl became his whole world from the moment he met her.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 17th cycle. Now cycle 18!_

**YEAR ONE ANNIVERSARY CYCLE!** - Within days it will have been one year since I've started this Gleekathon, and I had a thought that I should do something special for it. So this is what I did: Selecting from the start of it all to the end of august (well, I had to plan! ;)), I picked my 21 favorite one shots. A number of those I was very attached to, but left sad to see may have fallen through the cracks, so it seems fair they should be recognized.

The 21 stories were split in three categories: **POV swap - Prequel - Sequel**... I think that goes without saying ;) In no particular order... **Today's story** is a POV swap on #56 "The Golden Ring Toss" a Young Brittany & Grandpa Joseph story originally posted December 16th 2009.

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**"One Second Chance"  
Grandpa Joseph & Young Brittany  
Extra to the Sylvesters Series **

His wife had wanted him to mend ways with their son, but he couldn't. And then when she'd died, he knew one day it would pain him how she hadn't lived to see them back together… He just couldn't do it… even as time passed and he was all on his own, growing lonely…

And then one day, there was a knock at his door. He'd opened to find a woman there, tall, blonde… She was looking for Joe, and he told her who he was, how he hadn't seen or spoken to his son in years, and he could see this was not what she'd hoped to hear. Her urgency-in-hiding drew his attention and, after some light prodding, he'd learned what was going on and just who this woman was… She was the mother of his soon-to-be grandchild.

She would have walked away and been forever gone from his life, but he stopped her. He made his plea to her simple enough… He had lost his son, in one way or another, and he'd lost his wife… He had no one left, and all he wanted was to have some part in that child's life.

He remembered the first time he'd met her, a few days after she was born. The moment he'd seen her, and held her… his heart was tugged and handed to this little girl with the wandering eyes. She was his whole world and she made it better.

He watched her grow, and he knew beyond just having his granddaughter in his life, he had a second chance… He'd lost Joe, but he wouldn't make these mistakes with her… He was just thankful his wife had convinced him to name their son after him or else he might have never met his dear Brittany… and what a sad life that would have been.

One thing he'd quickly decided on was that he wanted to make her birthdays special. He would take her places she'd mentioned wanting to go to, or places he knew she'd love. A few weeks before her sixth birthday, driving her home, he'd heard her suddenly gasp audibly. Looking in the rear view mirror, he'd seen she was looking out the window. He looked to see what had captivated her attention in such a way… It was the Ferris wheel of the carnival on the other side of the river. When he told her this, she asked many questions, one after the other, all about this place. The more she heard about it, the more curious and excited she got. So that settled that.

He'd gone and picked her up, not revealing their destination until they arrived, as usual. He knew he'd hear it the moment she realized what the place was. As they were nearing, she was just talking on and on and all of a sudden she grew quiet. He smiled. She was transfixed, even as he came around and got her out of the car… He couldn't help but smile, seeing her, but at the same time he knew she'd wander off if he didn't have her hand in his. She wasn't bothered by it, just gave him her hand.

"Are there balloons?" she had asked him, and he was already on the lookout for them.

"Oh, I'm sure there will be balloons… maybe even some blue ones," he let the words hang, watching how she grinned. Before long, they had found the balloons, and it felt like he was holding down a revving motor. Once he was certain he could keep her in sight, he let her go to get her blue balloon. She returned with it, smiling from ear to ear, and he could imagine how that smile would disappear if she accidentally lost hold of the ribbon tied to her balloon and it flew away. So he got down on his knee and moved to tie that ribbon around her wrist.

She was so small still to him, even if she was relatively tall for her age. He imagined she would always be that in his eyes. He was her grandfather, sure, but he was more than that, since Joe wasn't there. He'd become the one she looked up to, beyond her mother… He remembered, when she was just starting to talk, how she would call him 'Dada…' She didn't know any better. And he was just as proud as if she had been his daughter instead of his granddaughter.

With the balloon secure, they were off to the rides. He could see how she was both giddy and scared at once. He just held her hand and she could be less scared, more excited.

When they took a break from rides, her new desire was to have cotton candy, and she got it. Soon, the excitement renewed and exploded again, brightest yet, as Brittany set her sights on a stuffed blue hippo she named Blippo. He watched her just dizzying up with the need to hold that little guy in her eager arms. He wasn't about to let down his birthday girl. He got the five rings from the boy at the counter, and he started.

One, two rings… Sometimes he thought about seeking out his son. No matter what happened between them, it didn't have to mean he'd be a good father. But then he looked at Brittany and he just felt it…

Three, four rings… She was happy. She had her mother, who could be a lot to deal with, but it couldn't be denied how she loved her daughter. And she had him, who looked out for her. He'd never let her be hurt, and the thought that she could be hurt by his presence…

He got an elbow tap for luck – sticky fingers not touching anything – and he made the final toss.

He won. He won her Blippo! She was so excited when she received him, after finishing her cotton candy and washing her hands. He could hardly get any attention from her now, so focused as she was. But it was all right. He'd gotten it for her, and he was happy about it.

The years would pass, and he would remain every bit the proud grandfather he'd been since the day she was born. He knew she'd always be his sweet girl… She wasn't the brightest, but that would never change how he saw her… That wasn't who she was. She was still the one who'd come along and given his life meaning again. And even if he didn't see how he could, the more time went by with her, the more he did think she'd be okay to meet Joe if she had the chance.

THE END

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**_[A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, story alert won't get you anything! ;)]_**


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